MKT 350 chap 4

What is customer satisfaction?

- Customer satisfaction is the favorable attitude towards the service provider.
Factors that influence customer satisfaction:

 Product and service feature- The quality of the product and service are very much
essential for customer satisfaction.

 Emotions- Both customer’s and service provider’s emotion matter for customer
satisfaction. If a service provider is not in the right state of mind then that person won’t
be able to provide the best service possible.

 Perception of fairness- perception of fairness depends on the service and the amount
customers are paying for the service, if they are receiving the service in time,
comparison between the service another customer received and that particular
customer has received and many others and based on these factors, if the customer
feels unfair then customer will be dissatisfied.

 Ambience- The ambience of the service provided place is very important for customer
satisfaction.
Why customer satisfaction matters?

 Customer repurchase intension- If a customer be satisfied by a particular brand then

the customer will repurchase service or product from that brand.

 Point of differentiation- A satisfied customer differentiates the service or product of a

brand from other brands and this gives the brand comparative advantage.

 Reduces customer churn- A satisfied customer will always come back to the brand for
purchasing services or products and that’s how customer satisfaction reduces the
customer churn.

 Reduces negative word of mouth- A dissatisfied customer will turn down other
potential customers of the brand by giving negative review about the brand and to
reduce negative word of mouth customer satisfaction is important.

 Matters more than price- When customers are satisfied than price doesn’t matter
much.

Factors that increase service quality:

  Reliability- It is very important to maintain the service quality. The service has to be
provided in time, the consistency of the service has to be maintained and the service
should be error free to main the service’s reliability.

 Responsiveness- The firm or brand needs to be very responsive to the customer’s

questions or quarries.

 Assurance- The ability of the firm to increase the confidence of the customers by letting
them know the skills, knowledge and experience the firm or service provider have
regarding the services.

 Empathy- The employee of the brand and the brand itself has to be concerned about
customer’s needs, wants and benefits.

 Tangibles- The physical elements need to be advanced or qualified which are related
with the service which will be provided.
Service encounter: Any interaction between the customer and service provider is service
encounter. Usually, service encounter is considered as the moment of truth.

 Core service encounter- These are those interactions between customer and service
provider which take place during the service process.

 Pre core service encounter- These are those interactions between customer and service
provider which take place before the service process.

 Post service encounter- These are those interactions between customer and service
provider which take place after the service process.
Types of service encounter:

 Remote encounter- A customer is interacting with the brand but not physically present
at the service center or context. Ex- going through website of a brand, withdrawing
money from ATM.

 Technology mediated- A customer is interacting with the employee of a brand using

technological medias.

 Face to face- A customer is present at the service center or context and interacting with
the employees of the brand face to face.
Sources of pleasure and displeasure in service encounter:

 Recovery- It is one type of compensation which is provided to the customers by the

service provider if there are any error or failure to provide the service.

 Adaptability- It is a process of accepting customer’s specials needs or wants and

according to that being flexible and bringing changes in the service process.
  Spontaneity- Always being attentive and ready to provide the best experience possible
to the customers.

 Coping- Coping up with the customers to solve their problems regarding the service
even though the problem wasn’t created by the service provider or any of the
employee.
How technology influence service encounter: most of the service brands have app nowadays
or website and through these apps and websites customers get to interact with the brand and
these has been possible because of technology. If a brand’s app, websites or other stuff which
are related to technology are not well designed or helpful enough for the customers then these
create negative impression about the brand and that’s how technology influences service
encounter.